A close friend of mine recently walked into a Starbucks to enjoy his typical morning routine that included a tasty Starbucks breakfast sandwich. The tasty delight was available, but he heard startling news on the PR wire that morning -- that Starbucks was going to remove the item from it's offerings and focus solely on coffee products. To take an excerpt from the announcement:

The warm sandwiches "are going to be out by year's end. In the meantime, they will be de-emphasized. Serving sandwiches got in the way of employees' ability to make the perfect shot of espresso.”

Now I don’t want to sound cynical here, but how hard is it to multitask when making coffee and a sandwich?

Meanwhile, my irritated compatriot wrote a letter to Starbucks than can only be described as "Consumer Backlash". Thing is, it actually made its way up the corporate ladder to some of the top brass over at Starbucks, as he got called into his bosses office nearly a week later to find out they actually represented Starbucks as a client! Whoops. After the boss kindly explained that the letter was “brilliant”, he politely asked that he refrain from using his corporate email account to vent his frustrations.

See, feedback does matter! Take a look for yourself…


Dear ________,

I write to you today because the smile on my face from this morning's Starbucks "Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon" sandwich is quickly eroding. I learned late last night about Mr. Schultz's initiative to axe all hot breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks coffee houses in a campaign to win back customers. Besides selling Coldplay albums out of your stores, this could be the biggest mistake of Mr. Schultz's illustrious business career.

I can honestly say that I had nightmares last night in fear that by this time next year, I will be unable to walk into my neighborhood Starbucks and smell the aroma of a plastic-wrapped, pre-made hot breakfast sandwich. No, they are not freshly prepared on a McGriddle, but they do offer a healthy alternative to the decadent desserts that are on display in all of your 10 billion stores and counting. In an increasingly health-conscious world, no one can deny the growing demand and popularity of a fiber-rich, protein packed hot breakfast sandwich. To be frank, the hot breakfast sandwich is the best thing going for Starbucks right now. Starbucks coffee, believe it or not, is a distant second, if not third (I do like those marble pound cakes on my sweet tooth days). Whether Mr. Schultz would like to admit it or not, Starbucks competes with Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. Both competitors offer better coffee and breakfast sandwiches for a cheaper price, and yet, I and a million others still go to Starbucks. As a hot breakfast sandwich expert, I can honestly say that Rachel Ray and Ronald McDonald are laughing at this "get back to our roots" long-term strategy.

With hot breakfast sandwiches removed from the menu, Mr. Schultz can say goodbye to its biggest revenue generator, and watch his loyal shareholder base rotate into one big "egg mcmuffin and cheese." With a waning stock price already, I'd be willing to bet that the portfolio manager at Sand Capital Management (SBUX's top shareholder) probably choked on his hot breakfast sandwich last night when he learned of Mr. Schultz's initiative. I know this sounds like a joke, but I'm being very serious. Killing the hot breakfast sandwich is not courageous as Mr. Schultz deems - it is just plain dumb, and will result in the ultimate demise of this respected franchise.

Sincerely,
________________(Name Left Out for this Blog)

Later in Mr. Shultz’s announcement, he goes on to write that the sandwiches will be replaced with "a breakfast menu that delivers what our customers are asking for."

Go figure.